In 16th Century Istanbul had one of its worst times because of a fire which destroyed almost half of the city in a few days and Sultan investigated the situation thoroughly and found out that the fire was started by a cigarette. And naturally Sultan forbid smoking, then alcoholic drinks and started to visit all the cafés, clubs by himself in disguise… This was a common practice for a Sultan during the Ottoman times.

One day, Sultan took a boat and was going to the Asian side of Istanbul to see if everything was OK. And Sultan did not wear his usual ceremonial robes, of course.

On the way, he asked his companion to give him a cigarette just to provoke the others to break the law. All the people on the boat tried to stop him but could not. And after a while one of the guys from the very east part of the Empire started to practice his mystic skills; fortune telling which was also prohibited in those days.

Then he could attract the Sultan’s attention, which resulted with a question addressed to the fortune-teller; ‘’could you tell us where the Sultan is now?’’

Fortune teller replied: ‘’Of course, it is such a piece of cake for me’’ and added ‘’ don’t worry! He is sleeping in the Harem now’’

Sultan asked again; ‘’Come on! We know he does not sleep that much. Please tell us exactly where he is now’’.

Fortune teller did his trick once again and started shaking and mumbled; ‘’ Sultan is at the sea’’

Then everybody on the boat realized that Sultan was with them. And Sultan addressed the fortuneteller another question; if you knew which gate that I will go through (at that time there are about 50 gates around the city), I will spare your life. Otherwise, you are a dead man walking.

Fortune teller made another of his tricks and wrote the name of the gate on a piece of paper and gave it to the Sultan.

Sultan ordered a row man to take them to the south and stopped the boat at a deserted place where no gate existed at that time and yelled at the soldiers on the city walls’’ Come and build me a new gate here immediately’’

They built the gate shortly, and Sultan went through and opened the paper as soon as he entered the city. What was written on the paper is ‘’ Congratulations on your new gate!’’

This time Sultan was shocked and had to keep his promise, so spared the fortune teller. And the more interesting thing is one of the city gates is called ‘’ New Gate ‘’ today and probably this is a true story. I recently came across the fortune teller around Topkapi palace, and he seemed quite happy.

Having worked in the Turkish tourism industry for many years, our selected group of Istanbul & Turkey tour guides are professional , attentive and have in-depth knowledge of Istanbul and Turkey’s history from ancient times to the modern day. They are also enthusiasts in exploring and sharing Istanbul & Turkey’s rich culture, traditions and culinary specialties, and make great traveling companions for individual or small group tours. Individual tour guides are 25 – 35 years old and all are officially licensed by the Ministry of Tourism of the Turkish Republic.